Neon

Name: Neon
Brand: Neon

database

GLOBAL

⚡Serverless🎁Free tier🔓Open source

Serverless Postgres with branching (database fork per PR), scale-to-zero, autoscaling. The modern default for Next.js + serverless workloads.

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Entry pricing

$19/mo

Best in

IN · US · GLOBAL

What is Neon?

Neon is a managed database / data-infrastructure service, Postgres, MySQL, Redis, vector store, or object storage with HA, backups, and operations handled for you.

Serverless Postgres with branching (database fork per PR), scale-to-zero, autoscaling. The modern default for Next.js + serverless workloads.

What to look for in database

The questions you should ask before committing to Neon or any alternative.

Cold-start latency, deal-breaker for serverless / scale-to-zero workloads
Per-PR branching for database schema changes
Read-replica geography for your user base
Backup retention + Point-In-Time-Recovery window
Pricing predictability under traffic spikes
Open-standards / portability (can you self-host the same engine?)

Neon cost at scale

Modelled monthly cost as you grow. Estimates only, final pricing varies on plan discounts, volume tiers, and any negotiated enterprise SKU. Database scale is the axis we vary.

Tier 1

Hobbyist · idle

$19/mo

≈ ₹1,615/mo

Tier 2

Indie · 1GB

$57/mo

≈ ₹4,845/mo

Tier 3

Growth · 10GB

$228/mo

≈ ₹19,380/mo

Tier 4

Scale · 100GB

$950/mo

≈ ₹80,750/mo

Forex assumed at ₹85/USD. Actual cost includes 2–3.5% forex markup unless paying with a low-fx card.

Neon is great for

Production web apps wanting managed durability, scale-to-zero economics, and a sane DX around schema changes.

Probably not ideal if

Workloads with very tight latency budgets where colocated single-tenant infra wins, or 100% local-first apps that do not need a server-side database.

Neon appears in 1 curated stack

Browse all stacks

Hand-picked tool bundles that include Neon. Each stack is opinionated about when this tool is the right pick, with monthly burn estimates and tradeoffs.

🧠

Hosting + database

AI Startup MVP

Serverless Postgres with branching, db fork per PR, scales to zero

$80-$250/moSee stack

Alternatives to Neon

Other tools in the database category we cover.

PlanetScale

Serverless MySQL with branching, non-blocking schema changes (Vitess). Acquired by Vercel (rumored). Killed free tier in 2024 — entry plan now $39.

Turso

Edge SQLite (libSQL fork) with multi-region replication. Sub-millisecond reads at the edge; pay per replica. Best for read-heavy global apps.

MongoDB Atlas

Managed MongoDB across AWS/GCP/Azure. Free shared-cluster M0; dedicated from $57/mo. Search + Vector Search bundled. Default for document-heavy stacks.

Upstash

Serverless Redis + Kafka + QStash, billed per-request. Generous free tier. The default rate-limit / queue / cache layer for serverless apps.

dbt

Transform data in your warehouse with version-controlled SQL. Replaces hand-rolled ETL scripts. dbt Core is open-source; dbt Cloud is the managed offering with scheduling + lineage.

Snowflake

Cloud data warehouse — separates storage from compute. Standard for BI / analytics workloads at $1M+ ARR. Pricing scales with usage; surprise bills are real.

Neon head-to-head

See all Neon alternatives →

Side-by-side comparisons with the obvious alternatives.

Neon vs PlanetScale Neon vs Turso Neon vs MongoDB Atlas Neon vs Upstash Neon vs dbt

Track Neon in your stack

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FAQ

›What does Neon cost?

Entry plan starts around $19 per user per month. Annual plans typically discount 15-20%. Neon bills in USD; Indian businesses incur ~3.5% forex markup unless paying with a forex-friendly card (see below).

›Who is Neon a good fit for?

Production web apps wanting managed durability, scale-to-zero economics, and a sane DX around schema changes.

›Who should NOT use Neon?

Workloads with very tight latency budgets where colocated single-tenant infra wins, or 100% local-first apps that do not need a server-side database.

›Are there cheaper alternatives to Neon?

Yes, popular database alternatives include PlanetScale, Turso, MongoDB Atlas. Compare them side-by-side via the head-to-head comparisons we maintain.

MatchYour Card

Pay for Neon with the right card

Picking Neon is half the decision. The other half is the card you swipe, at $19/mo the right pick recovers 1.5–4% in forex savings + rewards compared to a default retail card.

Best match

No-FX US card